Crossing Perennial Hibiscus

19 years ago

Hello everyone I'm quite new to growing Perennial Hibiscus I have started several varieties such as H. aculeatus, H. coccineus,H. diversifolius, H. syriacus and H. trionum and some others like H. sabdariffa, H. cannabinus and H. acetosella I know that some of these are used not only as food leaves and flower and unripe seed pods, but for fiber also, I'd like to find out which of these species will cross with each other and if they will produce a worth while Hybrid as I notest that some types that are grown from seed are very weak looking, also will plants grow from cuttings be stronger and have better root systems? I'm interested in finding seeds from H. greenwayi, H. radiatus,H. furcellatus and H. mutabilis. Can someone give me a heads Up on these species along with some of the Perennial Australian varieties like H. splendens? Thank you for any help that that I can get.

George W. Zone 5 Missouri

Comments (2)

minibim
18 years ago
Wow, you need to find a book with considerable details regarding Hibiscus species. For starters, you need to become much more familiar with the sections of Hibiscus.

One of the largest sections is Furcaria of which you have named H. acetosella, sabdariffa, furcellatus, radiatus, cannabinus. It is remotely possible these can cross, but the chromosome counts will have to match.

A small section of Hibiscus is Muenchhusia. This is only 5 species commonly called the American rose mallows. You only mentioned H. coccineus. If you find H. moschuetos, dascalyx, laevis, grandiflorous you will have the whole section. These are somewhat capable of crossing and most of the cultivars for H. moschuetos are a result of crosses between this section.

One of the best resources for finding chromosone counts comes right from your neck of the woods in the Missouri Botamical Garden. Their website is very informative and you can find a wide variety of info.
http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html

If you are willing to send me a sase bubble envelope, I can send you quite a few of the varieties you have on your list.

# Hibiscus acetosella
# Hibiscus brackenridgei- Yellow hibiscus
# Hibiscus calyphyllus
# Hibiscus cannabinus
# Hibiscus furcellatus
# Hibiscus mutabilis - Confederate Rose
# Hibiscus radiatus
# Hibiscus pedunculatus
# Hibiscus sabdariffa

Your list says "hardy", but some of these and what you have listed are tropical.
georgew79
Original Author
18 years ago
Hello minbim, Yes I know that I have my work cut out for me.I got them while I was looking for some Abelmoschus species other than Okra. I have been slowly composing several family trees that will link a few of them together, so that I might understand the species better. As you say some are more tropical than hardy, I received most of the ones I talked about although I need to get a few others yet. I have some of the local swamp mallows that grow here in Missouri, and want to learn more about them What varieties or species do you have that I might get a few seeds from? I do have some rare pepper seeds if your interested as I would like to give you something in return. Let me know where I need to send My SASE to you. I'm looking at some of the Info on the different species from the American Hibiscus Society and about 20 other websites to learn about them. Thanks